Gas-torch.



E. BECHER.

GAS TORCH- APPLICATION FILED JULY 3. 1913.

Patented. Feb. 6, 1917.

the bulk of the main face.

rnrnnm canton.

,EUGEN BECKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 BLAUGAS COMPANY OFAMERIO.A, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GAS-TORCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. d ll-91W.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGEN BECHER, a citizen of the German Empire,residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas- Torches,fully described and representedin the following specification and theaccon1 panying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to gas burners, and more particularly to gastorches of the type used, for example, in brazing or in removing paintby burning it off a painted surface. The object of the invention is toprovide an improved torch which, after once being lighted, may be usedas required with a full operating supply of gas to the burner, and whichwill continue toburn with a small pilot or relighting flame after gassupply has been cut off.

. In many operations it is necessary to apply heat to a localizedsurface in the shape of a relatively small and intensely hot flamedirected against the surface to be heated. This is the case for instancein brazing, and in burning paint ofl from a painted sur- In suchoperations it is convenient to employ a gas torch in which a fuel gas issupplied under pressure to a suitable blast burner designed to producethe hot sharp flame required for this class of work.

It very often happens, and particularly in the instances abovementioned, that a gas torch is used more or less discontinuously,

the flame beingerequired for periods of time separated by intervalsduring which the torchis idle. To permit the torch to burn full blastduring these intervalsof rest, as 1s quite common in practice, meansexcessive waste of fuel; while, on the other hand, to cut off the gassupply and extinguish the flame necessitates re-lighting the flame aftereach idle interval, an annoying and time consuming operation.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide a torclfwith' an auxiliaryand continuously open gas supply feeding a small separate jet or pilotlight arranged to burn in proximity to the burner and to ignite gasissuing therefrom when the main gas supply is opened. Such proposeddevices have not proved wholly satisfactory in practice, however, forthe reason, among others, that when the main gas supply is opened, thesudden rush of gas from the main burner orifice very often blows out thesmall flame, rendering it necessary to relight the torch by hand in theusual way. Moreover, such an arrangement is more or less clumsy since itrequires a special gas supply and other additional parts for the pilotburner or jet, and in general complicates the construction of the torch.

In the present invention I avoid, the difficulties above stated andprovide a torch of extremely simple construction which, after oncehaving been lighted, may be operated with a strong blast flameintermittently, the major portion of the gas supply being cut off duringintervals of non-use and the blast flame being ,re-formed with certaintyand prplmptness when the gas is again turned on To the above ends, thepresent invention comprises a suitable burner ,of the Bunsen typeprovided with a gas supply conduit in which is located a cut-off valvearranged so that it may be held in a position permitting ample flow ofgas under pressure to theburner when the latter is being used, while,when the burner is to be temporarily out of use, the valve returns to aposition where it cutslofl' nearly all of the gas flow but permits arelatively minute portion of the gas to continue flowing to the burner,the

amount of this restricted flow being suffi-- torch, parts being brokenaway and in sec-' valve and accompanying parts;

Fig. 3 is a view of the valve casing with the valve and closing'capremoved and showing the valve seat.

prises a burner having a shell or flame tube 1, a gas supply pipe 2, amanually operated controlling valve inclosed in a casing 3, and a handle4 through which gas may be supplied from any suitable source such asconduit 5.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the Referring-to the drawings, thetorch com-.

The burner is best of the type known as a flash-back Bunsen burner. Itis' provided near the base of the'shell or flame tube with air inlets 6,and has a gas nozzle 7 whichas shown is formed by the end of the supplypipe 2. The end of the pipe is threaded and extends through a threadedcentral orifice.

in the base of the burner shell and is locked to the shell by a nut 8.In the end of the,

tube 2 is a plug 10 having a rather fine channel or pin hole extendingtherethrough for the passage of a jet of gas under pressure. It isevident that the position of the nozzle, or plugged end of the tube2,-relative to the orifices 6 in the burner shell may be varied asdesired by screwing the shell up or down on the threaded supply tube andlooking it in place with the nut 8. U

The valve casing 3 is formed with internally threadedfextensions 12 and13 to connect respectively with the supply tube 2 and the hollow handle4. Extending transversely through the valve casing is a channel 1 Lwhich opens at the left in Fig. 2 into a valve chamber 15, a raisedannular valve seat 16 encircling the channel 14 at the point where itenters said chamber. The

inner Walls of chamber 15 are threaded to a stem 23 the inner part ofwhich is of a diameter somewhat less than that of channel 14.' .Theouter portion of the valve stem is 1 of a size to move in channel 14with a close sliding fit and extends through a packing chamber 24 andthreaded collar or gland 25.

A valve operating handle or lever 26 is pivoted at 27 to contact withthe projecting end of the valve stem so that by pressing on the leverthe valve stem will be forced inward and the valve opened against thepressure of its retaining spring.

A passage 30 connects the interior of the outer extension 12 of thevalve c'asing with the transverse channel 14, while a passage 31similarlyconnects the'interior of the extension 13 with the chamber 15.When the valve is lifted from its seat free communi-' catlon for flow ofgas is established from the innerto the outer side of the valve casing.

In orderthat the flow of gas shall not be completely cut oil when thevalve is seated, the annular valve seat 16 isprovided with a small notch32 which permits-the flow of enough gas to supply a small flame at theburner orifice 11. It is obvious that provision for slight flow of gaspast the valve going description.

might be made in other ways. The arrangement shown, however, is verysimple and works well in practice. It'has, moreover, the advantage thatthe repeated seating and unseating of the valve, together with theconsequent variations in velocity of the gas sweeping over the edges ofthe valve seat, tend to keep the small notch or groove clean andprevents its accidental stoppage.

The method of operating the gas torch above'described will, be clearfrom the fore Gas under pressure is supplied from any suitable sourcethrough conduit 5. Upon grasping the handle of the torch and depressingthe operating lever 26, the controlling'valve is lifted from its seatto' permit a practically unrestricted flow of gas to the burner nozzle,whence the gas issues in a fine jet at high velocity.- Alr enteringthrough the openings in the base of the burner shell or chimney mixeswith the gas to give a combustion'mixture wluch is readily lighted attheend of the burner.

The quality of the flame produced may be varied to a considerable extentby adjusting the position of the burner shell vertlcally on the gassupply pipe, and 1t may sometimes be desirable also to provide means forvarying the quantity of air admltted at the inlets. The quality of theflame having The small notch in the valve seat, however,

permits the continued flow of enough gas through the supply pipe to keepalive a small flame at the gas nozzle. It is to be understood that whenthe burner is in operation, the flaine does not burn directly at'thenozzle orifice but that combustion begins toward or near the outer endof the burner shell. When the main supply of gas iscut off, however, thevelocity of the outgoing gases is so much reduced that the flame travelsor flashes back to the nozzle orifice and burns there quietly as asmall. pilot been adjusted'to suit the character of the flame fed by thegas allowed to pass the closed valve.

It is to be understood, of course, that when the torch is tobe out ofoperation for any great-length of time, the gas supply may be'completely out oif by closing a suitable valve, (not shown,) in supplyconduit 5.

The arrangement described, while particularly useful in connection withgas torches constructed to operate under rather high gas pressures, mayalso be applied .under some conditions to gas burning -devices of othertypes. I consider the invention, however, of' particular applicabilitynaia eso to torches and as finding in this field its greatest practicalutility.

What is claimed is:

1. A gas torch comprising in combination a blast burner comprising atubular shell open atone end and having an air inlet opening and a gasnozzle for discharging a jet of gas within and directed toward the openend of the shell, a tubular rod by which the burner is carried andthrough which gas is supplied to the burner, a handle connected to saidrod, and cut-ofl' means for controlling the flow of gas through thetubular rod to the burner having an operating device adjacent thehandle, said means being formed to permit when operated to shut off thetorch flame a small flow of gas through the tubular rod to the burner toburn with a small flame at the nozzle within the burner shell to serveas a re-lighting flame when the full flow of gas is again established.

2. A gas torch comprising in combination a blast burner comprising atubular shell open at one end and having an air inlet opening and a gasnozzle for discharging a jet of gas within and directed toward the openend of the shell, a conduit for supplying gas to the burner, and cut-oflmeans for controlling the flow of gas through the conduit to the burnerformed to permit when operated to shut ofi the torch flame a small flowof gas through the conduit to the burner to burn with a small flame atthe nozzle within the burner shell to serve as a re-lighting flame whenthe full flow of gas is again established.

3. A gas torch comprising in combination a blast burner comprising atubular shell open at one end and having an air inlet opening and a gasnozzle for discharging a jet of gas within and directed toward the openend of the shell, a conduit for supplying gas to the burner, and a valveand valve seat in said conduit for controlling the flow of gastherethrough, one of said last mentioned members being formed with anotch or groove to permit a restricted flow of gas between said membersinto the conduit when the valve is seated whereby a small flame ismaintained at the nozzle within the burner .gas between the valve shellto serve as a re-lighting flame when the full flow of gas is againestablished.

4. A gas torch comprising in combination a blast burner comprising atubular shell open at one end and having an air inlet opening and a gasnozzle for discharging a jet of gas within and directed toward the openend of the shell, a tubular roCl by which the burner is carried andthrough which gas is supplied to the burner, a handle connected to saidrod, and a valve for automatically reducing the flow of gas through thetubular rod to a predetermined minimum, and operating means adjacent thehandle whereby the valve may be operated to permit the full flow of gasthrough the tubular rod to maintain the torch flame.

A gas torch comprising a gas burner, a pipe for supplying gas thereto, avalve and a valve seat in sa'ol pipe, and a resilient member for holdingthe valve against the seat in closing position, said valve and seatbeing formed to permit a restricted flow of gas between the valve andthe valve seat into the conduit when the valve is seated, whereby asmall flame is maintained at the burner to serve as a re-lighting flamewhen the full flow of gas is again established, and means for unseatingsaid valve to permit free flow of gas through the pipe.

6. A gas torch comprising a burner, a conduit for supplying gas thereto,a valve in said conduit, and a valve seat for said valve formed topermit a restricted flow of and the valve seat into the conduit when thevalve is seated.

7. A gas torch comprising a burner, a conduit for supplying gas thereto,a valve in said conduit, and a valve seat arranged to be engaged by saidvalve and provided with a notch or groove, whereby a restricted flow ofgas between the valve and the valve seat into the conduit is permittedwhen the valve is seated.

In testimony my hand in the witnesses.

whereof I have hereuntoset presence of two subscribing EUGEN BECHER.Witnesses:

ARTHUR S. WELLS, J osm L. OCONNE'LL.

